Egg treatment machine



Sept. 13, M. KASSER EGG TREATMENT MACHINE Filed Sept. 19, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. War/75 ,eazfiszf -A TTORNEYS.

Sept. 13, 1932.

M. KASSER EGG TREATMENT MACHINE ZSheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 19, 1930 I HEF INVEN TOR. Afar/A's flasser 0 M%ZJ% A TTORNEYS.

p 1932- M. KASSER EGG TREATMENT MACHINE Filed Sept. 19, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. fluff/5 KCZEEZP' ATTORNEYS.

III/III III/ll/I I/IIIA VII/I Patented Sept. 13, 1932 U ITED STATES nam s on ssiv nnnno sco, cam-Foams nee TRE TMENT moninn 7 Application flledsptembei 19,1930.- fserial No. 483,038.

This invention relates generally to machines for cleaning eggs preparatory-to mar,- keting thesame. It has particular applica.- tion to machines of this character which 111 ilize a sand blast or equivalentmeans for scour,-

ing the surfaces of the eggs;

It is an objectof the invention to devise a machine of the above character which will have a relatively high cap'acity ,;which will be efiicient in its cleaning action, and which will minimize breakage of the eggs. 7.

It is a further object of theinvention to devise an egg cleaning mach-inewhichwill operate with a minimumamount of power for its capacity and which will deliver the eggs substantially free of dust;

F urther'objects of the invention willgappear, from the following description: in which 'thenpreferred embodiment of the invention has been set forth in detail inaconjunction with the accompanying drawings; It isto be understood that the appended claims are to :be accorded a range of equivalents consistent with the state ofthe prior art. I Referring to the drawings: 1 .1 Figure 1 is a side elevational View in cross SGCtlOIl illustrating a machine incorporating the present invention. 1 i

Fig. 2 is a cross sectionalvie'w taken along the line 22 of Fig. 1. I

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional detail of theimeans whichI prefer to'utilize for supporting and for progressingeggs thruthe machine; Fig. i is a crosssectional detail taken along the line 44: of Fig. 3. i

The preferred form of the invention which has been illustrated in the drawingslconsists generally of a housing 10 whichcanzbe made of suitable'material suchas. sheet metal .This housing has been represented as including side vertical walls 11 and l2, end walls "13ai1d :14, and bottom wallrl6. By means which willbe presently explained eggs to .be treated are passed thru housing 10, and while within the.

5 housing-they are subjected 'tothe scouring ac:-

tion'of a sand blast.

As means for causing-the eggs to progress thru the housing'i'n themachine, lemploy a.

structure formed by spaced parallel-members 17 ,such as structuralsteel angle .membiers,

ic ex nd l g ud al y-9f ihe'hwang- Th s ang e m bers ca Pr i eetth -he nd wal 13 a 1e as hown i Fig- 2- essh ui mo ea ly. n Fig- 3, the angle membeii 8. a e s c r to m mber 17, and membe s :69 are connected by spaced v.c ross bars 1-9. ,Sgup Por ed p ba s l ar a-p ura ysf e s pr r i g' acks eac f wh ch has b e de ig na en rally at 2. A a tablepre t cal m i nt, ch ack i hQWI rm d p ed r ra e b :22, Pr v ded wi h a c ver ng 3 0f n teb r i emm t ial snai e t vu niz d b .e-r.-- B rcan be v -exil nt r ine r pen q q s m mb r E -9 y m a 1 pri sz ips a d they in norma ly. el endwp ra le to tb l jide angle m m e and lo gitud na y .o f il elheu r ins. 9: Y They are so r op rly spa e that each trackZlwillsuppoPt a rowof eggs a a n ig- W h c e g ani-new!) s po tin p i of sonnet- I order te p pe e es e sio of .t he eggs alongtracks2l lprovide a plurality .Q spa d b 2 whi a ad pt d t ex .t ml e e n and s g tet ee gs sh w :i s- The a s-e k wise rrefie y pr edwith a n el nsW f re i ient ate z al, su a r si ent vu qauiaed ub h n s of s 26 are .pn fie tah y s med to p ed ks 2 f th i nsve cha 2 An g Serve :as'guide means for chains 29, whereby when ..the se chains mo.ve in synchronism at a predetermined sp ba 26 r i e se. fp qs essed. at a predetermined speed longitudinallyof the 3.5 housing and above ,theparalIel tracks 21. Chains 29 can b v p rtofan{endlessconveyor and'are driven ,at a suitable rate co venie so r .Q P W Thu in Fi s- 1 and 2 the lower loops of the conveyor Q9 7 move continuously across the-track" 21 forexample from left to right as viewedfin Fig.2. Ifan operator, orsuitabIechaPging means, pla'ces eggs upon the -=tracks between thezbarsj26 at the left hand end of the nachiney [these-eggs will be causedto-progress thru ,thethousing alongthe -'tracks 21' until 31-90 finally delivered at the right hand end. As the eggs progress thru the housing they roll continuously by virtue of contact with rods 22. Whether or not the eggs are propelled or rolled by gravity along tracks 21 depends upon whether or not these tracks are horizontal or-inclined. If tracks 21 are horizontal then the eggs are propelled by contact with rods 26. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in Fig. 2, tracks 21 are preferably inclined with respect to the horizontal, so that the eggs roll by gravity.

of rolling movement of the eggs. However whether the eggs are propelled or permitted to roll by gravity, in either case each egg will have three points of contact, one point being with one of the rods 26,.and the other two points being points of support upon the corresponding track 21.

' The means for subjecting the eggs to the action of the sand blast preferably consists of a propeller 33, which is mounted to rotate in a plane parallel to and immediately above the tracks 21. To provide means for-rotating this propeller at a relatively high speed, it is shown mounted directly upon the shaft of an electric motor 34. The motor can be protected from the deteriorating action of sand particlesby enclosing the same within a housing 36. In orderto properly confine the action'of propeller 33, it is shown surrounded by cylindrical ring 37 this ring being carriedby the walls of housing 10. To continuously supply sand particles to propeller'33, a downwardly convergent structure or funnel 38 surrounds the'shaft of motor '34, and the lower end of this funnel is provided with an opening- 39. Mounted upon and-depending from the apex of funnel 38 there is a flared or conical shaped member '41.- Member 41 overlies propeller 33 and is concentric with respect to cylindrical member37. Sand introduced into funnel 38 flows downwardly thru opening 39 [and into the path of movement of the blades or the ropeller 33. The inclined blades of the propeller strike or bat the sand particles, thus propelling them with great force'downward- 1y upon the exposed surfaces of the eggs. After striking the surfaces of the eggs, the sand particles drop down thru the egg supporting tracks 21, and are received within a collecting chamber43. For returning this sand to the funnel 38, I have shown a bucket conveyor 44 disposed upon the backside of housing 10. The box or housing 46 for con- .veyor 44 isarranged at its lower end to receive-sand from collector 43. At the upper endof. the conveyor 44, the sand is delivered upon an inclined plate 47 which is provided with a. suitable sifting screen 48. The sifted sand is thus returned to funnel 38.

Rods 26 therefore merely serve as re taming means to insure a predetermined rate.

within conduit 51 are the fan blades 52, which a are mounted upon shaft 53, this shaft being drivenby suitable means such as an electric motor'54. The lower side of conduit 51 is in communication with the space above screen 48 thru opening 56, while one end of the conduit is in communication with the exhaust conduit 57. With motor 54 in operation a current of air-is continuously exhausted thru conduit 57, and this current of air carries away lighter dust'particles in suspension.

To review operation of the complete machine, an operator'or suitable charging means places the eggs to be cleaned between the bars 26, at that end of the machine where the bars are entering the housing. As the eggs pro-- gress thru the housing they continuously roll upon the tracks-21. Propeller 33 is driven at a high rate of speed by motor 34 and sand is continuously supplied to the propeller by operation of the bucket conveyor 44. As the eggs roll through the zone lying immediately beneath propeller 33, they are subjected to the scouring action of sand particles batted or propelled by contact with the blades or propeller 33. The sand blasting zone is of sufficient width that each egg has each portion of its surface exposed to the action of the sand a plurality of times. Due to the fact that dust and other foreign particles are continuously exhausted thru conduit 57, the sand is kept relatively clean, and after the eggs have passed thru the sand blasting zone they are substantially free of dust.

It will be evident that my machine will have a relatively high capacity, because of the manner in which the eggs are progressed thru the machine upon a plurality of parallel tracks. It is also characteristic of my machine that its operation requires a relatively small amount of power compared to its 0..- pacity. This result is attained by use of the propeller 33, which imparts velocity to the sand particles by virtue of actual mechanical impact with the particles, rather than by attemping to propel the sand particles at high velocity in suspension with rapidly moving air currents. Thus with my machine movement of large volumes of air at high velocity is obviated. The use of propeller 33 is also advantageous in that the propelled sand particles do not move in parallel paths toward the eggs. In fact the particles of sand are propelled along paths at different angles with respect to a plane extending longitudinally of the tracks and coinciding with the axis of rotation of the propeller. Therefore as a particular egg enters one side of the sand blasting zone, it is subjected to the scouring action of sand particles which scours not only the intermediate portion of the egg, but also one end of the egg. As the egg enters the other side of the sand blasting zone, the surfaces of the other end are effectively scoured by virtue of the fact that'the sand particles are now striking the egg from a different angle.

'As has been previously explained, the use of inclined tracks 21 is preferred, and has been found to materially contribute to the successful operation of the machine. For example if in progressing thru the machine a mass of foreign material upon the surface of the egg comes into contact with the adjacent surface of the corresponding bar 26, no jam ming will result, as the'bar 26 will merely withdraw from the egg a sufiicient distance to permit the obstruction on the egg to pass. If the eggs were propelled by the bars, such a mass of foreign material upon the surface of the eggs might cause jamming with resultant breakage.

I claim:

1. In an egg treatment machine, a pluralof the tracks, and means within said housing for subjecting eggs upon said tracks to a sand blast.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

MORRIS KASSER.

ity of parallel tracks arranged whereby eggs v supported thereby may roll along each track while supported thereon at opposite points along the length of each egg, egg engaging means arranged adjacent said tracks and adapted to move along a predetermined path. parallel to the tracks, said engaging means serving to segregate each egg of each row of eggs on a particular track, whereby as said means is moved theeggs continuously roll along the tracks, and means for cleaning the surfaces of the eggs as the eggs are rolled along and supported by said tracks.

2. In an egg treatment machine, means for conducting a plurality of eggs along a pre determined path, the conducting means including parallel track members spaced apart to support each egg at two points in its length and means for sand blasting said eggs while they are advanced along said path, said sand blasting means comprising a propeller arranged adjacent said path, and means for feeding sand to said propeller whereby impact of the propeller with the sand'particles serves to forcibly propel the particles upon the supported eggs whereby the eggs are forcibly scoured.

3. In an egg treatment machine, a housing, a plurality of parallel egg tracks extending laterally thru said housing, each track being adapted to support a row of eggs, egg engaging means associated with said tra'ck, a plurality of spaced parallel bars adapted to extend laterally of said track, endless conveyor means connected to the ends of said bars whereby said bars are repeatedly advanced in one direction along the upper side i 

